1. Coursework Requirement
Applicable to students admitted in 2026-27 and thereafter
The “candidacy requirement” composes of four major parts, namely, coursework requirement, candidacy examination, thesis proposal (and oral defence) and stipulated Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) module requirements. Students must complete and fulfill the first three parts within the “maximum period for fulfilling candidacy requirements” and complete the stipulated IPL module(s) in their first year of study. Details of the requirement are listed below:
Pre-candidacy
| (a) | Lecture courses: | ||
| (i) Required courses: | |||
| LING6902, 6903, 6920, 6980 | 12 units | ||
| LING6940 (Register for at least 4 terms) | 4 units | ||
| (ii) Elective courses: | |||
| LING6904 or 6905 | 3 units | ||
| Nine units of courses to be chosen from the following: | |||
| LING6941, 6942, 6951, 6952, 6953, 6960, 6970, 6971,6981, 6982, 6983, 6984 | 9 units | ||
| (b) | Thesis research / monitoring courses: | ||
| LING8006 (6 units per term) | 24 units | ||
| (Part-time students are required to register for LING8003 carrying 3 units per term) | |||
| —————– | |||
Total: | 52 units |
Post-candidacy
| (a) | Lecture course: | ||
| (i) Required course: | |||
| LING6940 (Register for at least 1 term) | 1 unit | ||
| (b) | Thesis research / monitoring courses: | ||
| LING8012 (12 units per term) | |||
| (Part-time students are required to register for LING8006 carrying 6 units per term while continuing students are required to register for LING8003 carrying 3 units per term until submission of their graduation thesis.) |
2. Candidacy Examination
| (a) | Part One of the Candidacy Examination: | |||||||||||||||
A written comprehensive examination based on a general reading list approved by the Graduate Panel. The examination will normally take place at the end of the second semester for full-time students and the third semester for part-time students. Students are allowed no more than two attempts at passing the qualifying examinations or parts thereof. Any second attempt must come within six months of the first one. | ||||||||||||||||
| (b) | Part Two of the Candidacy Examination: | |||||||||||||||
Students are required to submit two papers, one consisting of a comprehensive review of literature in the student’s area of research, and the other a quality research paper on issues related to the student’s thesis. The second paper should be publishable or acceptable for presentation at an academic conference. These two papers must be submitted by the end of the fourth semester for full-time students with research Master’s degree, and the sixth semester for full-time students without research Master’s degree. The same research writing requirements must be fulfilled by the end of the fifth semester for part-time students with research Master’s degree, and the eighth semester for part-time students without research Master’s degree. | ||||||||||||||||
| (c) | Applicable to students admitted on 1 August 2010 and thereafter: | |||||||||||||||
| Students are required to pass the candidacy examination within the maximum period stipulated below: | ||||||||||||||||
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3. Thesis Proposal and Oral Defence
Students are required to submit a research thesis proposal and pass an oral examination for fulfillment of candidacy requirement.
| Students are required to complete the following Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) modules in their first year of study for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements: | |
| (a) | Students are required to complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in their first year of study, with effect from the 2022-23 intake. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html (under “Research Skills”). |
| (b) | Students are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP), with effect from the 2025-26 intake. The guide is available on Library’s website: https://libguides.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/rdm/mandate-support. |
| (c) | Students must fulfill the Term Assessment Requirement of the Graduate School. For details, please refer to Clause 13.0 “Unsatisfactory Performance and Discontinuation of Studies” of the General Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies which can be accessed from the Graduate School Homepage: https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk. |
| (d) | A student must achieve a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in order to fulfill the graduation requirement, unless special approval is granted by the Graduate Council. |
| (e) | Study of a third language, a language other than English and the student’s native language, is required for Ph.D. candidature. For students whose native language is not Chinese, a third language may be Chinese or some other language. Students must complete with satisfactory results either (i) 9 units of courses of a third language offered by the language Departments/Units at CUHK under the current curriculum, or (ii) 6 units of a third language offered by the language Departments/Units at CUHK under the current curriculum and LING3108 Language Survey in the Field. Students whose native language is English must also complete with satisfactory results 9 units of courses of a second language. Exemption may be considered on a case by case basis with approval by the Division Head. |
| (f) | The thesis, when completed, will be assessed by thesis committee and by at least one external examiner. Ph.D. candidates are required to defend their theses at a public oral defence. |
| (g) | Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation. |
| In addition to completing the IPL modules stipulated for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements, students are also required to complete the following IPL modules for graduation: | |
| (h) | Complete an IPL module on “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html. |
| (i) | Complete an online Research Ethics Training (RET) module on “Publication Ethics” offered by the Research Office (RO) and obtain a valid Publication Ethics Certificate for graduation. Relevant information can be accessed from the RET website at https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/. |
| (j) | The final DMP should have been shared to the CUHK community on DMPTool or the relevant platform that CUHK provides when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio to the Graduate School. The guide is available on Library’s website: https://libguides.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/rdm/mandate-support. |
